Neon Abyss 2 is the newest installment in the run-n’-gun roguelike series of the same name, promising to be bigger and better. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Neon Abyss 2
Neon Abyss 2 Story Plot
Players take on the role of a member of the "Grim Squad," a task force assembled by the Greek god Hades. Their mission is to descend into the chaotic and ever-evolving Abyss to confront and defeat the "New Gods."
These New Gods are often satirical representations of modern-day concepts, such as the God of Fast Food or the God of Screens. While the initial setup provides a reason for the relentless descent and combat, the story primarily serves as a backdrop to the endless cycles of runs, item discoveries, and increasingly absurd synergies.
Neon Abyss 2 Gameplay
Neon Abyss 2 improves upon its predecessor, offering a chaotic and visually striking cybermyth roguelike experience. It is a fast-paced, run-and-gun platformer where players delve into procedurally generated dungeons, battling hordes of enemies and strong bosses.
The game includes a revamped weapon system, allowing for diverse combat styles, from close-ranged melee to commanding various creature allies. The game emphasizes its unlimited item synergies, where random item drops combine in increasingly powerful and often wild ways, encouraging players to mix-and-match builds and create overpowered characters.
A significant new addition is the online 4-player co-op, allowing friends to team up and experiment with their unique synergies to overcome the Abyss. Players can also hatch and evolve adorable "Hatchmon" companions to aid them in combat, and a new "Faith System" offers new ways to influence a run.
With its vibrant pixel art, challenging gameplay, and endless replayability through its expanded item system and new multiplayer mode, Neon Abyss 2 aims to deliver an even more action-packed and unpredictable adventure.
Neon Abyss 2 Release Date
Released on July 17, 2025, Neon Abyss 2 is now available to be purchased in Early Access on Steam for $19.99. The Early Access phase is projected to continue until 2026, with no specific release date in mind just yet.
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Neon Abyss 2 Review [Early Access]
Now Stuck In The Abyss For Hours
The sequel to run-n’-gun roguelike Neon Abyss is here in Early Access, and promises a bigger, better, and more engaging title. This cybermyth game brings you to the Underworld in the year 2055, where you, as the player character, suddenly becomes part of the resistance alliance trying to foil the plans of the enigmatic and mysterious Titan Group.
Engaging and Enjoyable Action-Platforming – Pixel Style
I was not able to play the original Neon Abyss, but whether you’re a newbie to the series or not, from the get go, Neon Abyss 2 surely is a bundle of joy to play especially if you’re already used to the genre.
The run-’n-gun gameplay is pretty fluid, and controls aren’t wonky at all. The auto-aim mechanic works perfectly, and I encountered no issues. The default keybinds are pretty intuitive, with all your standard buttons in the same general places as other roguelikes, and it even has the option for custom keybinds should you require the need to do so.
RNG is king here, making each and every run feel a little different from the other. While it can also be a point of frustration if you keep getting the same set of items over and over again, it adds to the whole unpredictability of it—that’s why we play roguelikes, right?
References to popular media and culture are pretty fun as well, with an entire boss dedicated to the blind box Labubu craze (aptly named Labobo), as well as other bosses that poke fun at the digital age, like the Nicolas, the God of Emojis or the God of Social Apps, Webook. I even got a Joker-esque clown as a companion Hatchmon later on. There’s something fun about seeing a homage to something you know of in a game, that little shout out.
Co-Op Mode For 2, 3, 4 Times The Fun
Based on some research and the bright neon "NEW 4 PLAYER CO-OP!" in the game’s description, the first Neon Abyss did not have the option for cooperative play, and its sequel aimed to deliver upon that missing feature.
I personally had a blast with the online co-op (and getting myself carried throughout, that’s for sure), and performance-wise, there were little to no issues. I liked that you are able to explore different rooms without being together in the same area, which can cut down exploration time by a huge chunk if you and your duo (or team) are into speedrunning and doing things efficiently. Certain rooms like the survival challenge rooms and the final boss areas do require all players to be present when unlocking, but everything else is a free game. There’s also this fun little mechanic that allows players to take an equal share of the prize coins after clearing a room—hovering over a dropped multi-colored coin will have a giant X on it if you’ve already gotten one for yourself. It’s a neat way to make sure that all players will have some kind of spending money in the shop, especially since most of the gameplay is trying to get better and better weapons as you go along.
However, please keep in mind that I have only played a two-player co-op, and results may vary
depending on your host’s system or number of players, as the multiplayer function itself is still in its testing phase as detailed in the in-game warning.
Weapons, Artifacts, Relics, and Hatchmons Galore!
One thing I really liked about the game was the variety of…well, everything. Characters, weapons, collectibles, tools—there’s a lot to unpack. Firstly, you can unlock new characters with their own different abilities and quirks through playing the game as well! Initially you only get to play as Nik, the character in the introduction, but as you unlock more weapons and tools, you’ll also be able to meet Elise, Saya, Xuan, James, and Lucia. According to the character menu, there’ll be four more characters to be added later on, so that’s something to look forward to.
There is a large selection of weapons and collectibles available, as most other roguelikes do. You start off with a small pool of them and as you progress (and win or fail) the levels, you unlock more things to pick up based on the tasks you finish. Tasks can be as easy as jumping 100 times, or harder like completing a set number of victories. Aside from the artifacts and relics (yes, they’re different), the Hatchmons are these adorable little pixel monsters that evolve after you hatch a certain number or type, which then grow into stronger Hatchmons. There’s quite a bit of RNG at play here too though, so good luck trying to Hatch them all!
With the range of tools at your disposal, not one run is exactly the same (unless you’re lucky enough to get your preferred weapon more often than not—personally, I’m in love with the ranged weapon 9th Color), keeping the game from getting stale quickly.
Still Feels Barebones…Everywhere Else
While the gameplay is fun and there’s a lot to discover, the rest of the game still feels…unfinished or unpolished in a way. Again, given that this is an Early Access title, there’s a lot of room for improvement over the next year (as projected by the dev team).
For starters, game mechanics aren’t exactly described as well as they should, even at the tutorial start. Veterans from the first game may be familiar with the mechanics, but for complete newbies, it may be a bit confusing. You might say that it’s part of the roguelike experience, but even as I go, there’s nothing confirming my understanding of this particular gameplay mechanic. Why are there differences between the Artifacts, the Curios, and the Relics? I’ve never even seen a Wonder Item in my playthroughs—an enigma, for sure.
A minor gripe, but there’s not much in line with the story. The very beginning has you watching the first character, Nix, take a point-blank gunshot to the face, where he then gets sent into the Underworld. Then, Dionysus welcomes him to join the BLACKDOG so that he can take revenge and search for the truth. You then get kicked into this tutorial for traversing the Abyss, and after that, you immediately try out your very first run. When you lose all your hearts, you then get teleported to the BLACKDOG headquarters and…okay, now you’re on your own, champ. Good luck understanding the rest of the story.
Perhaps there’s some lore to it coming from the first Neon Abyss (feel free to correct me on that though) but if that’s the case, how about the players like myself who are freshly introduced into its vibrant, cyberpunk-cybermyth world? Okay, you’re given a one sentence explanation as to who the main factions of the game are, but not much else. Who is the Titan Group anyway? What exactly is the BLACKDOG? So many questions, little explanation. Maybe it does get clearer as you go along the game, but at the beginning, it feels like I’ve just been placed into something I know nothing about—kind of hard to get into the feeling lore-wise if your mind is a blank slate.
Still Some Missing English Text
A number of the weapon descriptions when being picked up still display Chinese text, which can be a little jarring, and it doesn’t give you exactly what you’re getting. You can get some kind of understanding once you check it out in your inventory, but it still doesn’t give you a concrete idea of what this weapon’s supposed to do. What doubly sucks is that there are several of these weapons with Chinese descriptions—of course, they still work as planned, but it’s a pretty unfortunate oversight. It’s not only with the weapon descriptions either—there is a menu button that’s completely in Chinese, as well as the Confirm button in several menus (and even at the end of an Abyss run) that appears in Chinese characters first before glitching into English.
And sometimes, although less frequently than the fully Chinese text, the English translation feels awkward, has typos, or just straight up strange—often in a funny way. You can have minor lapses like the word "first" being mistyped as "frist" (because honestly, same), or something as puzzling as the Kobe Beef artifact having the following description: "fat marbling encrypts Hyogo’s microseasons". It’s just extra flavor text, sure, but I’m still confused as to what this is trying to say.
These minor issues aren’t game-breaking in any way, but it can be a little frustrating to have to pull out your own translation app just to get the gist of it (unless, of course, you speak Mandarin). You’ll surely get a few chuckles from the funny English though.
Overall Conclusion
Neon Abyss 2 somewhat delivers on its promises to be bigger and better than its predecessor, but there’s still a few creases that need to be ironed out to really stand out against the first game. It’s a solid game, but not exactly innovative or crazily different from other roguelikes—and that’s okay. Sometimes, you just need to scratch that itch with a decent game, which this action-packed cybermyth roguelike gives. You will easily find yourself lost upon hours of gameplay with all the content you'd go through, especially if you're a completionist of some kind.
There’s still some improvement to be done in terms of localization, bugs, and some confusing mechanics that leave you hanging, but overall, if you’re looking for a new funky roguelike action-adventure game to play, Neon Abyss 2 might just be your best bet. Otherwise, maybe you’d want to wait a little longer to see more updates for a better experience.
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Neon Abyss 2 Product Information
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| Title | Neon Abyss 2 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | July 17, 2025 (Early Access) |
| Developer | Veewo Games |
| Publisher | Veewo Games, Kepler Ghost |
| Supported Platforms | PC |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Neon Abyss 2 Official Website |
